Chirps from Center Ice

A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

RAPID RECAP – Pens WIN 5-4

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins needed to step up to the bully today in a big way. After getting smacked around by Hershey yesterday in a 6-2 throttling, they need to respond and respond in a big way. 

They did. 

A Carter Rowney hat trick, a couple of assists by Tom Kostopoulos joining the illustrious 600-600 Club, and the Wikkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins draw closer to Hershey for the division lead winning today 5-4. 

More later. 

GAMEDAY: vs. Hershey 3/6

vs.     her14_200

Home Game: 27

AHL Game: 860

Who: Hershey Bears

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 4:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game / Last Meeting: Last night in Hershey, the Pens were blown out 6-2. The Penguins fired just 14 shots at Bears nets, Dustin Jeffrey and Mattias Plachta scored the goals for the Pens. Carter Camper had a goal and two assists in the winning effort for the Bears.

Record: For WBS: 34-19-4-1 (73 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division) — For HER: 34-15-3-7 (78 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: Expect the backups in this Sunday afternoon game. Both Dan Ellis and Tristan Jarry both started their respective teams games Friday and Saturday this weekend, so expect Justin Peters for the Bears and Brian Foster for the Penguins this afternoon. It will probably be something weird that wins this game then, with the team that has the most shots on goal that probably wins the game.

Referee(s): Ryan Fraser / Keith Kaval

Linesmen: Francois Dussureault / Ryan Knapp

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @WBSGameDay / @TheHersheyBears

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /TheHersheyBears

Instagram: wbspenguins / thehersheybears

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso / @TLTomVenesky // @davesottile

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / HER: Scott Stuccio @ScottStuccio

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @ChocHockey

Radio: For WBS: WILK News Radio / For Hershey: 1460 The Ticket 

Television: AHL Live

Promotion(s): Kids FREE (14 and under, with paid adult ticket) | $2 hot dogs

Other Game to Watch: Providence and Portland rematch today in Rhode Island. Both teams are nipping at the Penguins heels for second in the division.

Next Five Games: LV 3/9, BRI 3/12, @ BRI 3/13, HER 3/19, @ HER 3/20

Walk By, Gaze at the Campfire, Aaron — Pens LOSE 6-2

WBS        @       HER

2                                         6

You will look at this scoreline only and think, “Fire Donatelli!”

Nope.

Okay, then. You look at this scoreline and think, “Foster, right?”

Nope. Try again.

Out of ideas? Okay. I will help you.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins fire a meek 14 shots at the net tended by Hershey starting goaltender Dan Ellis and get blown away by the Bears by a score of 6-2. Carter Camper had a goal and two assists, Nathan Walker scored twice. Dustin Gazley had a goal and an assist. I couldn’t work Garrett Mitchell’s name into the blog headline for some reason. I will try and do better the next time.

The Bears also connected three times on the power play. Just the second time this season the Bears have done that.

Tristan Jarry started the game and was opposed by Dan Ellis. Both goaltenders started least night, so expect Justin Peters for Hershey and Brian Foster for the Penguins tomorrow.

Jump through to see all my amateurish videos of the goals and read the game story…

Read more of this post

GAMEDAY: @ Hershey 3/5

@     her14_200

Away Game: 32

AHL Game: 843

Who: Hershey Bears

Where: Giant Center

When: 7:00 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night in Lehigh Valley the Pens won 3-0. Dustin Jeffrey assisted on both of Dominik Simon’s goals and Tristan Jarry had a 35 save shutout, hit fourth of the season. For Hershey, the Bears were in Binghamton last night and beat the Senators 3-1. Sean Collins had a goal and an assist for first star honors.

Last Meeting: February 23 in Wilkes-Barre, the Pens lost 4-1. Carter Rowney had the only goal for the Pens in the loss.

Record: For WBS: 34-18-4-1 (73 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division) — For HER: 33-15-3-7 (76 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: Battle of Atlantic Division powers as the Penguins square off against the Bears in the first of a home and home this weekend with first place in the Atlantic Division on the line. A win by the Bears extends the lead on Wilkes-Barre for the Division lead while a Penguin win in regulation against the Bears puts Wilkes-Barre in first.

Referee(s): Kendrick Nicholson / Stephen Reneau

Linesmen: Tom George / Richard Jondo

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @WBSGameDay / @TheHersheyBears

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /TheHersheyBears

Instagram: wbspenguins / thehersheybears

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso / @TLTomVenesky // @davesottile

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / HER: Scott Stuccio @ScottStuccio

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @ChocHockey

Radio: For WBS: WILK News Radio / For Hershey: 1460 The Ticket 

Television: AHL Live

Other Game to Watch: Albany and St. John’s battled each other in a testy affair on The Rock last night with the IceCaps pulling out the win. The two teams rematch today up in Newfoundland.

Next Five Games: HER 3/6, LV 3/9, BRI 3/12, @ BRI 3/13, HER 3/19

Dustin Off A W — Pens WIN 3-0

WBS       @       button_lv200

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You knew that the trade for Dustin Jeffrey on Monday would have immediate implications on the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins going forward.

Two assists for the former now current Penguin, two goals by Dominik Simon, a 35 save shutout by Tristan Jarry, his fourth of the season and second against Lehigh Valley and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins roll to a methodical 3-0 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Friday night.

Jarry snapped an eight game losing streak.

He opposed Anthony Stolarz.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Dominik Simon
Mattias Plachta – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito – J-S Dea – Ty Loney
Anton Zlobin – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath

Reid McNeill – Niclas Andersen
Tim Erixon – Steve Oleksy
Reid O’Neill – Barry Goers

Tristan Jarry – Brian Foster

Lineup Notes: Josh Archibald was recalled to Pittsburgh with the injury to Kevin Porter. Porter had ankle surgery today and will be out till mid-June. Both Beau Bennett and Eric Fehr are close, so Archibald may be back sooner rather than later…Patrick McGrath was back in the lineup for the first time since February 13…Mattias Plachta, Barry Goers and Dustin Jeffrey all made their Wilkes-Barre debuts…Conor Sheary is day to day with an upper body injury.

First Period: Pens couldn’t do anything with an early power play. A line of Dustin Jeffrey, Carter Rowney, Tom Kostopoulos, Kael Mouillierat and Will O’Neill came out first. Then the Phantoms took over and outshot Wilkes-Barre 10-3 at one point. Then the Penguins after a media timeout got their sea legs. The line of Jeffery, Mouillierat and Simon had a dangerous shift…

But Stolarz was up to the challenge.

But Stolarz later had a puck handling gaffe and never really touched the puck when Jeffrey bore down, took it off of him and passed to Simon who scored.

This note from Russ Hryvnak:

And one from Seth:

The Penguins were faced with a challenge going forward. That was playing with a and protecting a lead.

Second Period: The Dustin Jeffrey Effect was nearly immediate, as he threaded a pass directly through Phantoms defenders and straight to the tape of Kael Mouillierat who had defenders draping him and backhanded a shot on Stolarz. The Phantoms net minder made the save but the chemistry with Jeffrey and his line mates was boiling.

Pens killed two consecutive penalties. Jarry was under fire and made a save in the splits. You could feel Wilkes-Barre biting at a second goal. But Jarry was pressed into another save in a mass of Phantoms defenders with a fluttering, bouncing puck:

Game was settling into a goaltender duel. With the mass of shots being presented at Tristan Jarry, you had a feeling that one goal would not do it for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

The Penguins third line came through.

That was J-S Dea, scoring his second goal in three games, providing the insurance heading into the…

Third Period: 1:28 into the period, Simon tacked on his second of the game. Just watch where Simon lets go of that backhand shot…

It was Simon’s ninth multipoint game for the Penguins.

Phantoms outshoot the Penguins 10-8 in the period but Wilkes-Barre just methodically closed off all serious threats at Phantoms potential scoring chances and made it easy on Jarry.

Three Stars: 3) J-S Dea (goal, +1) 2) Tristan Jarry (35 save shutout) 1) Dominik Simon (two goals, +2)

Around the Division: The Hershey Bears maintain their lead on the Penguins in the division with a 3-1 win up in Binghamton…Springfield loses 7-3 to Rochester in Western New York. Ex-Penguin Matia Marcantuoni was a -2 in that affair…Providence gives up two goals late to have Bridgeport tie it then Bracken Kearns scores on a penalty shot and the Sound Tigers stun the P-Bruins in Rhode Island by a score of 4-3 in overtime…Syracuse beats Portland 3-1 up in Maine. Hartford was off.

Standings: Hershey (.655 percentage points) — Penguins (.640) — Portland (.591) — Providence (.580) — Bridgeport (.568) — Hartford (.526) — Lehigh Valley (.500) — Springfield (.438)

Wheeling Update: Cody Wydo had a hat trick, Tyler Biggs scored a goal as did James Melinda acquired in the Jeffrey trade and the Wheeling Nailers roll the Reading Royals by a score of 7-4. The two teams rematch tomorrow in Reading.

Here is the postgame infographic from Coal Street:

Pens are in Hershey tomorrow. A regulation win by Wilkes-Barre puts them on top of the Atlantic Division again. Have to think that Brain Foster gets that game in goal though. Who knows. Gameday setup for that will be on the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

GAMEDAY: @ Lehigh Valley 3/4

 

@     lv14

Away Game: 31

AHL Game: 831

Who: Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Where: PPL Center

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Sunday in Providence, the Pens lost 3-2. The P-Bruins put up 50 shots on the Wilkes-Barre nets. The P enguins scored two shorthanded goals. For Lehigh Valley, they were in Syracuse on Wednesday and won in a shootout 3-2. Anthony Stolarz stopped 51 of 53 shots.

Last Meeting: January 30 in Wilkes-Barre, the Pens lost 5-3. It was a McDonald’s fest. Colin McDonald had two goals, Andrew MacDonald had three assists for the Phantoms in the win. Scott Wilson had two goals and Conor Sheary had two assists.

Record: For WBS: 33-18-4-1 (71 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division) — For LV: 27-26-2-3 (59 pts., 7th place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: Should be interesting to see who steps onto the ice first for warmups. That’s usually goaltenders you know. Stolarz stopped 51 shots Wednesday. Brian Foster by rights should start the game and let Tristan Jarry start back to back games against Hershey Saturday and Sunday.

Referee(s): Stephen Reneau / Evgeny Romasko

Linesmen: Tom George / Bill Lyons

Twitter: @WBSPenguins and @WBSGameDay / @LVPhantoms

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins / /LehighValleyPhantoms

Instagram: wbspenguins / lehighvalleyphantoms

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso and @TLTomVenesky / @SteveGrossMCall

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For Lehigh Valley: Bob Rotruck @BobRotruck

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: WILK Newsradio / For Lehigh Valley: Fox 1470

Television: AHL Live

Other Game to Watch: The Sound Tigers are in Providence taking on the Bruins tonight. These are two teams chasing an Atlantic Division playoff spot.

Next Five Games: @ HER 3/5, HER 3/6, LV 3/9, BRI 3/12, @ BRI 3/13

Thursday Roundup 3/3

A couple of things to get to as the Penguins begin a three-in-three weekend where they do not leave the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Defenseman Barry Goers is back, given the green light to play in games this weekend. It’s expected that if all goes well, Goers will play Friday in Lehigh Valley and Sunday home against Hershey. The initial plans are for Goers to not play in back to back games as he eases back into the lineup.

Dustin Jeffrey participated in his first Penguins practice Thursday at Coal Street…

Look for Jeffrey to center Kael Mouillierat and Dominik Simon this weekend. I have a sense that could be a dynamite pairing for the Penguins this weekend. With the Tom Kostopoulos and Carter Rowney chemistry, the Penguins could actually have two good lines that may generate offense this weekend.

Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli had an update on Conor Sheary.

Donatelli also mentioned that Tristan Jarry will start two of the three games this weekend in goal meaning that conceivably Brian Foster gets a game. I am thinking that is this is the case, give Foster the start tomorrow vs. Lehigh Valley and let Jarry start the back-to-backs against Hershey in the home and home Saturday and Sunday. Simply, the Penguins can’t allow to let Hershey get away from them if they are serious about overcoming the Bears again for the division lead. If Jarry starts tomorrow in Lehigh Valley then Foster is starting one of the two against Hershey and that will probably not bode well for the Penguins and likely signal the end of their pursuit of the division lead. at least in my opinion. I guess we all find out around 6:20 on Friday.

One more thing, the Penguins are sending Tyler Biggs, John McCarron, Harrison Ruopp and Clark Seymour to Wheeling this weekend. With the regulars starting to get healthy and some help coming back from Pittsburgh in the forms of Conor Sheary and Dustin Jeffrey, why keep an excess of bodies around when both Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre are going to be playing basically right next door to one another this weekend with the Nailers in Reading Friday and Saturday with the Pens in Allentown and Hershey on the same days.

Gameday setup for Friday’s meeting with Lehigh Valley will be on the blog tomorrow afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!